LB Finance to curb deforestation through ‘Thuru Wawuma’ 50-50 Thousand project

LB Finance PLC initiated and launched ‘Thuru Wawuma’, a project to curb deforestation in Sri Lanka, which will be steered by the company’s CSR committee.

The Thuru Wawuma initiative seeks to plant 50,000 saplings by 2021, marking the company’s 50th anniversary and longestablished desire to protect the country’s natural resources and indigenous wildlife. The company also partnered with a mobile app ‘Thuru’ to drive the engagement extending it to the public masses.

LB Finance representatives will facilitate the project and conduct awareness drives at schools, national parks and public spaces across the country while encouraging citizens to plant a sapling and adopt a tree, deepening their awareness, understanding and appreciation of the environment with renowned actor Sathischandra Edirisinghe stepping in as brand ambassador.

According to the World Bank, the forest cover of Sri Lanka has decreased from 36 to 29 percent in the last 28 years. By the same token, conservationists say that up to 80 percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many of them cannot survive deforestation. Equally important, meteorologists say that deforestation is one of the main causes of the current global warming trend.

The mobile app Thuru which LB Finance has partnered with, is currently available on Google Play and Apple Store. Users that download the app can register the saplings they plant and upload pictures of them over time, to the excitement of environmentalists worldwide. As an incentive, LB Finance will offer users a bonus interest through the ‘LB Yasaisuru’ fixed deposit accounts. The company recently announced that around 5,000 saplings had been planted in Amapara, Galle, Trincomalee, Moragahakanda, Matara, Colombo and Kottawa with the support of the staff members of LB Finance.

Commenting on this distinct initiative, LB Finance Managing Director Sumith Adhihetty said: “By integrating sustainability principles within our business strategy, we are ensuring that the needs of our environment are met alongside the requests of our customers. Planting trees is one of the easiest and most sustainable ways to positively affect our environment.

Trees improve air quality by producing oxygen. They also store carbon, offsetting harmful by products of fossil-fuel burning. We hope that this project will inspire others to preserve our natural heritage. As a responsible corporate we look forward in creating better life standards for future generations and thereby have identified that a healthy environment is crucial in creating such standards.

In view of this, the Management of LB Finance together with the company’s CSR team has taken steps to carry out this mission ‘Thuru Wawuma’, ‘50-50 Thousand’ project and for it to be completed with 50,000 trees at the time of celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary in 2021.” The tree-planting project reflects LB Finance’s strong commitment to corporate social responsibility. Recently, the company developed 126 pre-schools and sponsored school equipment for some visually impaired students in Sri Lanka. The finance giant has also invested in a water purification site for Bishop Edmund Peiris College in Chilaw and is currently constructing a drug rehabilitation centre in Galle.

“The future will not only be marked by our ability to evolve and adapt to change,” said the Management and the CSR Committee Members of LB Finance. “Thanks to initiatives like ‘Thuru Wawuma’ that will help inspire a new generation of Sri Lankans to take conservation seriously. Among the technologies that will save the environment, electric cars and biofuels are not the only ones that play a special role. We at LB Finance are dedicated and committed towards environment sustainability and will ensure more than 50,000 trees are gifted to the nation when celebrating our Golden Jubilee.”